IT’S GOOD TO BE THE KING. But Emily Bazelon writes that it’s nearly as good to be Sandra Day O’Connor. I think that Bazelon’s take on federalism is rather superficial, though: “If we care about fighting the subtle and not-so-subtle ways in which men and women are treated differently in the workplace, it seems more important to set a uniform standard than to worry about insulting the states.”

“Insulting the states?” Federalism isn’t a dignitary right of the states. It’s a structural feature of the Constitution that’s supposed to protect individual freedom — and that the Framers thought was more significant in that role than the Bill of Rights.